it may sound weird to pick up a console mainly for a built-in game, but for me that was the case, astros playroom looked like a system seller to me, a collectathon by a studio who's game's ive enjoyed (though i have not finished the original astro bot) full of fanservice for a company who's consoles have always been my mains and specifically a sendoff to japan studio, one of my favourite studios, where this was the last real game that i would associate with the brand (like 3 peoples work on a bad remake of demons souls does not count), it felt like something i had to be there for and i am so glad i did as even though it was a short free experiance, it ended up being one of my favourite platformers of the last decade, maybe one of my favourite platformers period. it's a short game, maybe only 5 hours to platnum the full game, including the expanded update with speedrunning levels and some extra trophies, but this works well since it's just here to be a fanservicy throwback, it doesn't overstay things, each set of levels is maybe a half an hour at most and all have a ton of variety, from a beach in an iceberg, to a jungle in the sky, a futuristic speedway that transitons into a space level and a level even set in the clouds, which eventually transitions into a full lightning storm, for such a short game the variety is immense. you even have little gimmicks in the levels to show off features of the ps5. from a monkey suit that uses the pressure sensitive adaptive triggers, a springsuit that also uses those same triggers to jump, a ball that rolls with the now more sensitive touchpad and a rocket that also, again, uses the triggers, the game is very proud of the adaptive triggers. the game also uses the haptic feedback super well in a way that really sold me on it, walking on sand feels like walking on sand, skating on ice feels like skating on ice, you feel the individual raindrops hitting an umbrella even, it's very impressive and i was blew away even feeling it in action.

the simple gameplay lends itself well to this, 3D platforming with a lazer hover, charge attack and normal attack, the same kind of gameplay that worked great in astrobot rescue mission and it still holds up here because of the fun level designs and the additions it also ads, like a bow and a minigun, each of which you really only get for a level and a boss, but they're fun to use, especially the minigun with a wild arms trophy attached! it's simple but sometimes you just need simple. you even have collectables, but they aren't the main focus of the levels, it's always about getting to the end and getting the artifact you find there, which is always a console as each land is themed after a specific era, the ps1 themed memory meadows, the ps2 themed ssd speedway, the ps3 themed gpu jungle and the ps4 themed cooling beach, they're all filled with puzzle peaces for a big mural tribute to the era, but more importantly, items from playstation history, ps moves, vitas, discs and eyetoys, there's so much to find here that even a more casual playstation fan will find something they love represented, and as someone that has stuck with playstation since they started playing games, i was smiling at every new find, it's such a lovely time, a nostalgiabaity time, maybe, one that indirectly lead to the death of japan studio, but i won't hold any of that against it as i did have a lovely time playing it.

it looks very good too! it has a simple style to it but it all works great, the whole world is made of game system parts, so even the organic areas are filled with chips and electronics, playstation symbols and wires, it's all super cohesive and it really makes the game feel like it's taking place inside the console, it's got a lot of imagination and heart to it, you can even find little robots that are dressed in playstation reference costumes of different IP's throughout playstation history, from modern games like the last of us, to games like jumping flash, ff7 and tomb raider, every one i found made me smile, the attention to detail is fantastic, you even have robot penguins! the area's have massive hangoutability, the less gimicky levels just feel very chill, the enemies arent much of a threat, you have infinite lives and the music is always super chill, it's nice to just exist in this world and the game lets you really take things at your own pace in them, it's got great vibes to it. the music too is super nice, mostly very chill and etherial, but fun when it needs to be, it's composed by a non-japan studio regular in the form of kenneth young, composer for the little big planet games and a personal favourite of mine, tearaway, his score is super soothing and a great listen, charm for days.

sadly it would be the last real breath of the studio, while asobi is still around and hopefully working on a fantastic new project, this would be the last real chance japan studio had to shine, some people would go on to work on the absolutely abysmal demons souls remake, a charmless, heartless husk of a game that strips all artistic meaning and the things that made it fresh and original, from its original game, leaving it one of, in my opinion, the few bad games i can name and a disgusting example of the disregard the industry and specifically bluepoint have for artistic meaning and integrety, but it is something for me to cover another time. japan studio would be,as of april 2021, no more, leaving behind a legacy of hundreds of fantastic, meaningful, artistically important titles and many of my favourite games of all time in its wake, while in their last few years they didnt get much work from sony, with games like gravity rush 2 by the team siren division and games like this and knack 2 being their last few real projects, it's a shame how sony treated them but it makes this game really come across as staffers trying to give the studio a real swansong goodbye while it still could and i'll admit that by the end i was crying, i am a little worried about where sony will go in the future without them, but games like this and the continued existance of team asobi means we'll get something great in the future at the very least.